Sire De Grugy jumps across Special Tiara at Sandown© Photo Healy Racing
Special Tiara’s connections are considering an appeal against the Tingle Creek result. Sad to say the consensus is their chances of getting it reversed are slim to none. If Simple Verse managed to secure the Leger after her jockey admitting to a cold and calculated piece of interference, then the cross-channel rulebook is unlikely to reverse a result on the basis of Sire De Grugy taking out his Irish rival in midair over the final fence. All of which only emphasises — again — how the British rulebook should have been taken out and burned long ago.
The Tingle Creek is an unusual one though. It’s all subjective but Special Tiara did look like he was coming to beat Sire De Grugy with one sharp burst up the Sandown hill. And the interference did look to prevent that happening. The complicating factor is the interference happened in midair. The fact it was accidental is irrelevant. Interference is interference. But horses shift around all the time when jumping. It’s part of safely negotiating an obstacle. Collisions aren’t unusual. Where’s the line past which officials should act? At which obstacle should it start to count?
The only mildly comparable incident that immediately comes to mind is the 2014 Moriarty Chase at Leopardstown, a three-runner race won by Ballycasey which saw Don Cossack dart left at the last and collide with Carlingford Lough. The fact that Tony McCoy was unseated from Carlingford Lough got officials out of having to make a call but there are savvy judges on this side of the Irish Sea who reckon Special Tiara might have got Saturday’s decision in an Irish stewards room. And they’re not talking home town decision either.
Nevertheless, considering the rulebook they’re working with, and the ridiculous decisions that book has legitimised in recent years, it’s hard to be too critical of the Sandown stewards’ decision. They have their subjective opinions too. And it’s hardly their fault the glaring flaw in the rules is precisely that subjectivity. It’s what facilitates the cop-out of favouring the first past-the-post to such an extent that a culture of win at all costs is endemic.
No one’s suggesting the Tingle Creek interference was anything but accidental. But interference is interference, wherever it happens. A case might even be made for it being worse or more dangerous if occurring in midair. No one can say for definite Special Tiara would have won without it. Neither is it definite he wouldn’t. But with rules favouring the first past the post so much, and allowing officials what is essentially a cop-out, the dice are always loaded in favour of the transgressor. In an effective system, an appeal would be worthwhile. In this system it looks futile.
Mind you, plenty of professionals will tell you privately the whole thing would have been academic if Noel Fehily had simply challenged on the other side of the winner.
Some of those same professionals will attend HRI’s 2015 Awards where the most prestigious gong is Horse of the Year, a title that means a great deal in other jurisdictions and is maybe starting to become a little more important than people like to let on here too.
There are half-a-dozen contenders this time with just two from the flat, Gleneagles and Legatissimo. Since Australia was a stand-out contender a year ago, and didn’t get voted in, it’s surely safe to assume the Coolmore pair won’t be popular favourites to win. There is always a danger of such things turning into popularity contests but really and truly there should be only one winner — Faugheen.
Whatever about losing an unbeaten record in the Morgiana last month, he was the outstanding Irish winner at Cheltenham in the Spring and imperious at Punchestown. Every horse can be forgiven one blip - much harder though to forgive voters getting it wrong, again!
High winds cancelled Navan’s Saturday fixture but not before perhaps the most eye-catching figure of the weekend had caught our attention — Gordon Elliott’s eight declarations for a maiden hurdle. We’re not talking Aidan O’Brien’s eight in the 2007 Epsom Derby but even so it was a remarkable display of strength in depth.
Even more remarkable is Elliott’s continuing rise towards what looks increasingly like an inevitable trainer’s championship. The ‘when’ is hard to predict but already the reality is Willie Mullins has a worthwhile rival, banishing claims of an unhealthy monopoly, to be replaced no doubt by charges of an unhealthy duopoly.
Elliott’s ascent has been rare, and even rarer has been the speed of it. A decade ago he hadn’t even had a runner. Just four years ago his Longwood stables were just green fields. Now Elliot’s building new stables with the speed Tiger developers used to slap up apartments. And he’s still only 37.
Anyone in any doubt about there being a new and determinedly more businesslike tone to the new Curragh will be put right by the job spec for the new position of chief executive of Curragh Racecourse Ltd.
Amongst the usual jargon the successful candidate will need to be able to competently spout about at interview there is reassurance that knowledge and understanding of racing “would be an advantage,” although implicitly not a deal-breaker.
Given the rest of the spec, that should ensure a long list of likely runners, and a few racing insiders have opined privately that pedigree might not actually be a factor this time. Whatever about that, any early ante-post betting on the winner would be interesting.
And finally Willie Mullins’s ambition to secure an elusive Cheltenham Gold Cup was boosted again with Don Poli’s Liverpool victory and Djakadam winning the Durkan. Both were very impressive in their own way, although Don Poli’s scope for improvement still looks huge. Even so, it was hard not to think Mullins’s biggest weekend thrill was probably in getting Pont Alexandre back after 998 days off.
Three years ago this horse was the apple of the champion trainer’s eye. Even with everything else in the yard, there is an unmistakable sense he’s still regarded as a bit special. Mullins is much too smooth an operator to not realise the significance of comparing Point Alexandre’s ability to Coneygree. Where he winds up this season will be fascinating.
